"EVERYTHING’S HANDLED THROUGH THE INTERNET"

Working on an animated film requires not only imagination, professional and technical skills, but also time. Two or even three years. This painstaking and filigree work requires perseverance, concentration, patience, and a great love for the process. Only then one can get stunning results, when the drawings on the screen suddenly transform into real characters with distinct feelings, emotions, actions, and deeds. Each character is unique, as it is recognisable by its humane and spiritual features. Like the Hedgehog in A Taste of Kindness or the Fly in The Sly Fly. 

For Javid Ahadov, and for the entire production team at Birlik Studio, sustainable dialogue and feedback with the audience is very important. That is why they create the good and eternal things that will maintain the moral values and cultural tradition of the ancient Azerbaijani people. Screenwriter, director, and artist Javid Ahadov works tirelessly and without downtime.

He has represented Azerbaijan in many international festivals. The more recent events include the Schlingel Short Film Festival and the 22nd Golden Knight International Film Forum, where he screened his film Drawing in the Sky requested by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan. He also was a participant of the 18th International Film Festival for Children and Young in Germany (Stuttgart and Chemnitz in 2013 and 2014, respectively) and other events held in Belarus (2014), Iran (Mazandaran, 2016), Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek, 2015), Ukraine (Kiev, 2015) and so on. In 1992-2020, as director, screenwriter and artist, he contributed to the production of several animated films at Birlik Studio, including Dream of Mind, Taste of Kindness, The Righteous Hedgehog, The Sly Fly, Drawing in the Sky, The Old Clock, Mine requested by the Red Cross (Geneva), etc.

Javid’s down-to-earth character makes him not talk about himself too much. He believes it is his works that represent his self.

“What are you working on now, Javid?”

“I work together with a creative team of artists at Birlik [Studio] to produce a large animated cartoon series called Tell Me a Tale, which will focus on the ethnic and historical values of Garabagh. We released the first episode, Arakhchin, in 2021 and it has already been presented at two international animation film festivals in Brazil and Russia. By permission of Birlik Studio, Arahchin was included in the Brazilian festival's list under the condition that it would be screened worldwide. We represent Azerbaijan at any international festival. That is why it is so important for us now to create a series that tells a true story about our Garabagh.”

“Why is Azerbaijan's participation in festivals so important?”

“It’s been impossible to get in touch with the audience through big screen since the nationwide distribution of animated films was suspended. Everything is now handled through the Internet. But it is not the best way to promote the sensible, the good, the eternal. That is why we promote our traditional moral values, achievements of our animation art at various international festivals.”

Plans

Javid Ahadov is a caring man whose works and life go beyond his profession. He has many creative plans. So many that he simply cannot keep up with them. For example, he is keen to create another big series of animated educational films to support the curriculum in secondary schools and universities. By the way, Javid is a son of artist Firangiz Gurbanova and artist-director Fikret Ahadov and grandson of actor Aghadadash Gurbanov—one of the founding fathers of the Theatre of Young Spectators (TYS) in Baku. 

“You believe that the language of animation is necessary to explain scientific and educational disciplines...”

“Effective animation tools make it possible to describe the instrumental accomplishments of our fellow compatriot Lutfi Zadeh, who invented the concept of fuzzy logic, as well as other inventions and discoveries of our scientists. Everything should be easy and simple to understand. Then the children will remember even the most complex matters forever!” 

That's not all Javid is dreaming about, though. He shares with us some of his plans. In fact, he doesn't call them his dreams. He says it is a process of creative thought training, fantasies, variations of a process aimed at improving his soul, and an attempt to live several lives at once. It is similar to what his grandfather, Aghadadash Gurbanov, used to do on the stage of TYS and the National DramaTheatre. Javid believes that any artist is an actor to some extent. And if you think about his statement, it turns out that it is true... 

“Tell us something about yourself.”

“What can I tell you? I was born in Baku in May 1965. My parents are Firangiz and Fikret Gurbanovs; both are the graduates of Art and Directing Department of VGIK (The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, Moscow, R+). They told me that I used to draw all the time. I remember this myself too. I owe my parents the love for art and spirituality. I grew up in an atmosphere of nobility and mutual understanding. I graduated from the Painting Department of the Azim Azimzade State Art College. Then I took animation classes at the USSR State Television and Radio Company in Moscow under my instructor Fyodor Khitruk and at the computing school Step in Baku. I am a student of the Moscow Financial-Industrial University Synergy. I am also a poet and you can read some of my works in Literary Azerbaijan.” 

The world of numbers, words, emotions, artistic space, self-analysis, comprehension of man as a spiritual phenomenon and of the surrounding nature and earth as inexhaustible sources of spirituality. This is what makes a lion’s share of Javid’s daily life. The rest is love for his family, his work that he faithfully serves, his search for artistic truth and for himself in the rapidly changing times. But he is also interested in another aspect of life that does not depend on the changing times—that is, people. 

“Do you agree that speaking to people and objects of nature is necessary to keep our souls awake?...”

“I believe this is a genetic legacy of my grandfather. He was a cheerful and funny man; he could attract both the love of cinema and theatre and the love of people. He was unique in that he had a special psycho-type that required careful and scrupulous research, because the key driver of his life was creativity. And this process is continuous and somewhat mysterious. I am still dreaming about writing a screenplay for a film about my grandfather. I wanted to do this by his centenary anniversary. Alas, I could not. But I have not abandoned the idea.”

“What can you tell us about the family?”

“It is a huge creative and emotional boost for me! My mother is Firangiz Gurbanova (artist, screenwriter, director and teacher), my wife is Zema Ahadova (animation artist) and my daughter Uarda is a student at the Academy of Arts. In general, I am a lucky guy. I met a girl from Abkhazia who made my life harmonious and happy. My future wife left Sukhumi for Moscow to take animation classes from my instructor Fyodor Khitruk. We met there in 1991. In 1993, we came to Baku—we were a married couple by then—and settled here forever (smiles). We immediately plunged into the professional work at Birlik Studio.” 

They both recall their years in Moscow and their master with warmth and gratitude. Fyodor Khitruk was a true animation professional—a screenwriter, director, and artist whose works include Boniface's Holiday, Winnie the Pooh, Toptyzhka, Film, Film, Film and so on. They remember all the good things that they have had throughout their personal and professional lives. They know how to share warmth and companionship with others. Javid believes that spiritual people professionally and humanly live and improve themselves through realising themselves in each other. Simply put, in other people with soul. He has a firm humanistic belief, his own philosophy and view of the essence of things. 

“What are you dreaming about?”

“Going beyond the conventional forms of animation cartoons, trying myself in writing and directing a big feature film. With real actors. And definitely a comedy. Perhaps I'll dedicate it to my grandfather. And I think my grandfather would approve it. He would certainly support it. And my father would support it too! You know, I often remember how my father came unexpectedly to visit me at the military unit in Germany where I served. Why? Well, to visit his only son, of course. How? Back in 1989, he was a production designer for the film A Private Visit to a German Hospital. To give dad a chance to see the routine of a private Ahadov Junior, the commander of the unit suggested that we go to the shooting range together and... shoot!” 

This episode from the past reminded Javid something very funny and hilarious associated with both the unexpected visit of his father and the equally unexpected fact of visiting the firing range together. This could well be a theme for a comedy film about Javid himself—a son of Fikret, and a grandson of Aghadadash—carrying in his chest a vast universe filled with ideas of harmony, light, goodness, joy, happiness, peace, and love. He is an artist. And he is a medium communicating the supreme ideas of the Absolute between us and Him.